This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Finding Help and Giving Back to the Community

Finding Help

Help is found through the KHelpCenter and is organized around applications and then tasks. KHelpCenter is launched either through the KMenu under Help or from the main screen.

The Ubuntu Documentation Team has spent a lot of time and effort to completely rewrite the way the documentation is presented and, of course, to update the content for the latest release, 7.04. Upon opening the KHelpCenter, you will be presented with a listing of the different manuals on the left and the documentation text on the right (Figure 7-59).

There are two main sections that make up the KHelpCenter, with the first being Kubuntu-specific documents and the second being KDE and other documents. The first part is where we will focus. The Kubuntu documents include the About Kubuntu Guide, the Ubuntu Packaging Guide, the Ubuntu Server Guide, and finally Kubuntu System Documentation.

The Kubuntu System Documentation replaces the old Kubuntu Desktop Guide in order to make the help more topic specific and also to make it easier for you to find what you want. Looking for help about adding more applications to your system? Simply click on the section labeled Adding Applications. Looking for help on how to set up your printer? Then the Printing section is what you want.

If you still need help after looking in the documentation, Kubuntu provides other means for finding this information. A great place to start is on the IRC channel #kubuntu, which, as we noted earlier, can be accessed through Konversation. There are always wonderful and knowledgeable people in this channel who can answer almost any question. If you prefer to use the Web for answers, the Kubuntu wiki, found at http://wiki.kubuntu.org, has a large amount of information loosely organized with a great search function built in. A third place to find information is the Kubuntu forums at www.kubuntuforums.com. Remember that Google is your friend as well. Chances are someone else has come across your problem before and has written a solution to the issue.

Giving Back to the Community

Kubuntu is built around a great community of people who give back what they learn. There are many ways to get involved and share your love of Kubuntu. A great place to find out how you can make a difference is at www.ubuntu.com/community/participate. Not everyone involved has to know how to create packages, understand how the kernel works, or be a great programmer. Kubuntu also has a place for people to write wiki pages or help with documentation needs.